What do people do in Santorini? Past/Future Cruisers??

[readytocruise2009]

What do people do in Santorini? Past/Future Cruisers?? Are there private services that get you where ship is tendered? Not sure what to do there??? Thanks

[lifevicarious]

We'll be there on 9/15 so I am curious about this as well!

[alexandra cruiser]

I was there with another cruise line and only had 1 full day to explore.Its best just to wander the small town, shop, eat.,sightsee .We also rented a MoPed out of town,just a short walk,ask on ship for directions;;;;and saw rest of island.It was easy and not a wild ride at all, we were in our mid 50s at time.There were also taxi s for a small price,again out of old town area,if MoPed not appealing.Can get a guidebook on Greek Islands which really helps with more ideas.But small enough area to do on your own.Good luck, you ll love it.One of the prettiest islands,along with Mykonos, on the cruise.

[stipmom]

Check the Greek Island boards. It was very helpful for planning when I was going there. We took the bus to Akitoi(which I'mnot sure I would do agan since the bus was very crowded and not at all orderly) then a taxi from there to Oia since we did not want to wait for the bus. Oia is breathtakingly beautiful. Don't miss it. We walked Oia's streets for awhile then took the bus back to town (which was fine). I hope to get back to Santorini some day.

[brazilgirl]

We rented a car in Fira , drove to a beach , swam , drove to Oia , explored the gorgeous town and ate greek yogurt drizzled with honey and topped with fruit and nuts.

 

A wonderful day! It is very easy to drive around , the island is easy to navigate . We had a plenty of time to get back to the tender.

 

Have fun, it is one place I absolutely must visit again.

 

Kim

[Texed]

It doesn't get much better than eating pizza in a cliff-side restaurant looking down at the sea. :)

[kitty9]

If you want an adventure take the donkey ride up to the town. Otherwise, take the funicular which is quick and easy. Then you can walk the town and then rent a car to see the island. In the town, about a 3 minute walk from the funicular, we found a restaurant overlooking the sea and had a wonderful Greek lunch. It was beautiful.

[LongTimeTvlr]

We just returned from the Solstice Eastern Med Cruise that sailed on 8/17. (For UK people that's August 17th ;)).

 

We missed the sailing in Rome due to a broken airplane and then a long weather delay, so we had to fly to Santorini to join the ship.

 

It was great, we arrived in Santorini at 6:30 AM and the place was deserted. We walked the cliff side trail from downtown almost to Oia. Watched the sunrise over the hills.

 

Beautiful sites. One abosutely amazing thing - We were escorted by a set of dogs, who one at a time led the way. After about 20 minutes, each dog seemed to pass us off the another dog who then led us down the right paths. Same thing happened going back. Don't know how they knew where we wanted to go, but they were always in front of us and always took the right fork in the path.

 

Best part was they refused the tip we offered!

 

Shopping was also great once the shops opened. Lots of private attention and some long coversations with the locals.

 

Very pleasant.

 

Once the tenders arrived from the 2 ships in the caldera, things got a lot more crowded, so we settled into a seaside table at one of the taverns and had a couple glasses of wine while we waited for the Solstice to arrive, which it did, right on time - 2 PM (that's 2 in the afternoon for the UK folks)

 

I second the opinion above, try the Greek yogurt with honey and nuts. Best we ever had.

[bardstowntraveller]

We were in Santorini last month. My advice is to get off the ship as soon as possible as the town gets crowded quickly. We were on one of the first tenders. We took the funicular up, walked to the bus stop and took an early bus to Oia. It was very cheap and easy to do. It looks just like the pictures you see of the white houses and blue roofs. If you stay in Fira you will be disappointed. It is filled with shops but doesn't have the charm of Oia. The buses get very crowded later in the day.

[yogimax]

Simply walking around and taking wonderful pictures!

[CruisinYaks]

I was there in 2006, and we loved it--Santorini is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. We took the bus into Oia and it is a must-see--absolutely beautiful. I agree about doing that early to beat the crowds. We ate at Ampelos restaurant in Fira (it was right there in town, up a set of steps) and the food was excellent.

 

I really wanted to ride the donkeys up--when else do you have an opportunity to do that?--but my husband talked me out of it, and we took the funicular instead. He was SO right. He'd read on the boards here that if you ride the donkeys up, you will SMELL like a donkey for the rest of the day. When we got to Fira, I walked into a shop and was immediately assaulted by the most horrible odor...sure enough, there was a fellow passenger there who had just ridden the donkey up the hill, and her jeans reeked. Poor thing.

 

The funicular ride was fast and easy.

[keiki40]

i can highly recommend visiting Oia, but please take the first available tender as it gets crowded quite soon.

[agabbymama]

Santorini and Kusadasi were the two ship's tours I booked about 6 months from sailing date.

 

Santorini because I didn't want to ride the funicular or the donkeys up the side of the caldera. By doing a ship's tour, you are tendered to a different port where the buses are waiting. We went wine tasting and they took us to the highest point of the island, and then to a black sand beach. We missed Fira and Oia, but still enjoyed our day there. After the tour, we had the option of being dropped in Fira, but then would have had to ride the funicular down. We stayed on the bus and went back to the tender dock and back to the ship.

[2theship]

If there are several ships in port, the wait for the funicular can be very very long - 3 hours is not unusual, I have heard. We avoided this by signing up for a ships tour, which uses special tenders to a different port on the island, where the buses are waiting, as agabbymamma pointed out. Our tour took us to Oia (beautiful, breathtaking), then to a winery for wine & cheese tasting (wine OK, Olives & cheese delicious), then back to Fira.

Wandered around, had lunch, then waited on line for 1 hour for the funicular back down.

This was with 3 ships in port.

[trinitygirl]

we spent a week in santorini in 2002 - it was so beautiful, just wandering the cliff tops is fun. but my favorite activity was catching the water boats to Red Beach or Black Beach (so called for the colour of the cliffs in back) - they were wonderful beaches, not crowded, great for swimming, and fun to get to on the small boats. if i had only a day in santorini again, i would spend the morning at the beach, and then have a long, lazy lunch in the shade, and then do a bit of window shopping. you'll have a wonderful day - its a gorgeous place.

[TourDeCruise]

We been to Santorini two times. The first time we took the ship's excursion around Santorini, stopped for wine taste overlooking the Mediterranean, and went to the Archaeology Museum where the artifacts from Akrotiri reside. Unfortunately, Akrotiri was not open for tours on that cruise. Fortunately for us, we saw it on our second Santorini cruise.

 

We could have done the museum on our own as it is right there in Fira. After our excursion, we then walked around Fira and went back to the ship for lunch. After lunch we took a tour on our own by taking the tender back to Fira. Right there at the pier where the tender drops you off, there is a booth selling boat tours to Nea Kameni, the volcano you can see from the ship. We hiked the volcano and then took the boat back to Fira. After dinner, we went back on the tender, took the funicular to the top, and walked around Fira at night. The ship departed Santorini around 11pm. What a spectacular sight with the white-washed Fira with its twinkling night lights fading in the distance as we listened to Izzi's Somewhere over the Rainbow playing on the ship's speakers. Celebrity no longer plays Izzi, but now we have it on my dh's iPOD.

 

There is a boat trip from the Fira pier to Nea Kameni that also includes the mud baths, but we just took the shorter Nea Kameni trip.

 

The second time we took a taxi to the Akrotiri archaeological site, then afterwards had the taxi take us to the very lovely Oia. We left earlier that time, so we didn't have time to walk around Fira afterwards.

 

On a future visit there, we would like to go back to the Archaeology Museum and also hike some mountain/hill to the Phoencian, Greece, & Roman ruins.

 

Kathy

[hcat]

we have an early morning excursion to Oia, but then want to see the Archaeology Museum--can you tell me where it is? About how long to tour it? We felt there was not enough time to get to Akrortiori but can see some of the artifacts in the msueum..

 

Can't wait-- we sail on the 15th on Solstice!

 

Thanks

[readytocruise2009]

Great INFO----If you walk "the steps" how long does it take to het up and then down ?? Thanks

[Lsimon]

I have a reveiw with a few suggestions and some pictures on my photo site - click here

 

I think a combination of a short ship's excursion and touring on your own is ideal.

 

There are lots of great suggestions and other reviews and comments in the port of calls board on Santorini here on Cruise Critic.

[TourDeCruise]

we have an early morning excursion to Oia, but then want to see the Archaeology Museum--can you tell me where it is? About how long to tour it? We felt there was not enough time to get to Akrortiori but can see some of the artifacts in the msueum.

 

I would allow an hour, more or less depending on your interest, to tour the museum. From where the cable car drops you off walk down the steps into town (not the steps back to the pier where people are going up & down by donkey). By the bus station and post office, you will see the museum which is actually the Museum of Prehistoric Thira. It is only around a 10-minute walk from the cable car. Supposedly, there is now another smaller museum a little closer to the cable car, but you want the larger one by the bus station -- or you may want to tour both museums. The map below shows both museums.

 

http://www.santorini.us/santorinimap.htm

 

To those planning to climb the stairs up to Fira, remember the donkeys are climbing the same stairs. We took one look at the stairs and decided against climbing to keep our shoes clean, if you know what I mean. But others who climbed the stairs can advise on this better.

 

Kathy

[cruiztime]

Can anyone give us an idea of costs associated with "doing it on our own"?

 

Cable car prices, taxi prices to Oia and cost of nice lunch overlooking the sea?

[silvercity]

Santorini and Kusadasi were the two ship's tours I booked about 6 months from sailing date.

 

Santorini because I didn't want to ride the funicular or the donkeys up the side of the caldera. By doing a ship's tour, you are tendered to a different port where the buses are waiting. We went wine tasting and they took us to the highest point of the island, and then to a black sand beach. We missed Fira and Oia, but still enjoyed our day there. After the tour, we had the option of being dropped in Fira, but then would have had to ride the funicular down. We stayed on the bus and went back to the tender dock and back to the ship.

 

I've been to Santorini several time in the last 20 years. Reading your post makes me think you wasted a marvelous day :rolleyes:.

 

Fira nd Oia are what you go to Santorni. Sit on the cliff with galss of wine and watch the sunset. One the worlds best! By the way I have never taken the ship tours. I go on my own or take private tour if needed. Santorini you don't need. Its very easy to navagate. If you go on the ship tours they take you were to eat and were to shop. Thats why they keep taking people to same place week after week to eat and shop. Don't miss Santorini and Don't miss Fira and Oia. Take the cable car up or the Donkey ride but go early and enjoy the day. :D:D:D

[SailAway78]

It doesn't get much better than eating pizza in a cliff-side restaurant looking down at the sea. :)

 

I'm shocked! No waffles?

 

We haven't been to Santorini yet but it's on the list. Enjoy this wonderful

evening photo of Solstice in Santorini:

 

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/showphoto.aspx?photoid=65389&size=fulll

 

Bonnie

[Texed]

I'm shocked! No waffles?

Bonnie

 

That was earlier in the day. :D

[silvercity]

Can anyone give us an idea of costs associated with "doing it on our own"?

 

Cable car prices, taxi prices to Oia and cost of nice lunch overlooking the sea?

 

Take the bus to Oia very very cheap. Or better yet rent a scotter ($50). Its fun. Lunch over looking is anywhere from $25-$150. Depends what you like and what you drink. Don't miss it...Cable Car can't remember but I think about $3.5